Made Wianta's artworks made from raw buffalo skins, mirrors and nails on view in Bali

This picture taken on December 15, 2012 show a woman looking at an art exhibition entitled "Treasure Islands" at the Gaya Gallery in Ubud on Indonesia's resort island of Bali. Dozens of artworks made from raw buffalo skins, mirrors and nails were on display during the solo exhibition of Made Wianta. AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA.

UBUD.- Treasure Islands is a series of artwork inspired by the Indonesias abundant natural resources as the main treasures within the archipelago.

The idea comes from the process of barong making and some the materials that are required to create one, such as raw buffalo leather, mirrors, and nails. There is no religious content or interpretation to these pieces. The raw buffalo leather represents an island. The texture and the color of this leather evoke the surface of a dry landscape.

Wianta spreads a handful of mirrors to symbolize the treasures and also the reflections of humans greed. The nails are used to portray the sharpness of a mind in uncovering these treasures as well as the sharpness of the tools that are used in digging them.

The mining of natural resources is often the source of conflicts that harm the civilians and destroyed the ecosystem. Through Treasure Islands Made Wianta would like to remind us of the real price in uncovering Indonesias abundant resources that is colored by blood, tears, and violence.

Made Wianta was born in the village of Apuan, Tabanan, Bali. Possesed of an intense concentration of energy, he is bubbling and constantly moving. His creation flows from the depth of his psyche. Over two decades, some 14,000 works of art have emerged from his energy and creativity. Those art works are widely known and have been exhibited nationally as wet[ as internationally at prestigious galleries and museums. Wianta is a multi-modal artist. His mastery of color and form on canvas is matched by his mastery of words in poetry; body movement in dance and sense of rhythm in music. He often combines all three into "installations" or "happening" art such as will happen at the upcoming Art and Peace event.

Wianta is an artist with strong sense of environmental awareness and social responsibility. His environmental awareness has materialized into several art instaltations/happenings such as "Forest and Life" in Apuan, Tabanan (1999) "Sound and Nature" in Apuan, Tabanan (1997); "Water, Fire, and Air" in Apuan, Tabanan and Gajah Wong river, Yogyakarta, Central Java (1995). His strong sense of social responsibility prompted him to hold several exhibitions to donate his paintings for sate in support of many social causes. These include a fundraising exhibition together with other artists at the Bali Cliff Hotet to help poor regions of Bati (1995) and the sale of several paintings to help AIDS research in San Francisco and the earthquake victims of Flores, Indonesia (1993). Since 1992, through his "Wianta" Foundation, he has collaborated with the Ford Foundation to help preserve endangered traditional art and culture in Bati. And, in 1991, he staged an "Art Camp" in Apuan to bring together many Indonesian and international scholars and contemporary artists.

As an appreciation for the breath of. his creativity and the depth of his social and environmental awareness, Wianta has been awarded the Dharma Kusuma Award by the Bali Provincial Government (1999). He holds the title of Professor for Corrrespondence of Academie from the Academia Internationate Gressi- Marino, Italy (1996).